ALBUM PREMIERE: Chilean Death Metal Band Thy Serpent’s Cult

‘Supremacy of Chaos’ ends things on a strong note for Thy Serpent’s Cult

Chilean death metal has been a dominant force for quite some time but it hasn’t been until the last few years that I’ve seen bands from the country mentioned as frequently as their peers from other parts of the world. Thanks in part to the rise of platforms like Bandcamp and a number of labels that have worked to unearth some of the best material from the South American country, there’s been a ton of great albums to listen to. One of the latest is ‘Supremacy of Chaos’ from Thy Serpent’s Cult, out today on CD and digital formats from Italian label Ordo MCM. It’s the third full length from the group and unfortunately their last as they called it quits earlier this year, but the eleven song effort is a heavy hitter filled with old-school riffs that sends Thy Serpent’s Cult out on a high note. Today we’re streaming the entire album so you can hear for yourself the type of dense, bottom heavy death metal they have to offer.

Throughout their nine year career the group has showcased a sound that pulls from a lot of old-school influences, and they nail this throughout ‘Supremacy of Chaos’. While a lot of death metal bands eventually moved towards overly polished and sterile production values, Thy Serpent’s Cult recalls that fertile period in the 90’s where the genre had a bottom heavy sound and an overall rawer feel. As you make your way through the eleven track album you’ll hear quite a bit of influence from early Florida death metal along with a good deal of South American influence (both Krisiun and Atomic Aggressor come to mind). It’s not the heaviest or rawest album out there by any means, but Thy Serpent’s Cult is able to strike that fine balance between bludgeoning intensity and abrasive riffing without sacrificing the details in the process. This makes it easy to pick out the individual riffs and solos that drive each song, and that definitely makes a difference. ‘Supremacy of Chaos’ tends to favor mid-tempo and slower, lumbering grooves over speedy blasts, letting the weight of its instrumentals overwhelm the listener over time with a dark and brooding atmosphere. The prominent bass lines only help to add to the overall murkiness, creating an album that’s equal parts violent and mysterious.

Thy Serpent Cult’s vocals are rooted in the type of low pitched growls that one would expect from death metal, but there are higher pitched screams added as backups that help to break things up on some of the tracks. The lower ranges come through as powerful, guttural growls that stand slightly above the instrumentals but don’t overwhelm them, while the screams give off a slight black metal feel. It’s a balance that works to the band’s favor and gives the feeling that both styles are attacking the listener with the intent of tearing them to pieces. Both of these pitches are sure to come off as familiar but they’re delivered with precision and an immense amount of energy which help the material to stand out.

‘Supremacy of Chaos’ ends things on a strong note for Thy Serpent’s Cult, showcasing them as a band that can deliver old-school death metal with killer leads and solos while also capturing that occult, otherworldly vibe that so many of the South American acts excel at. It pulls from a lot of familiar influences but doesn’t try to directly mimic any particular one, and fans of the style should find this to be a worthy listen. Hopefully the members don’t stay silent for too long and resurface in other projects, but for now they’ve left us with an album that listeners can get plenty of mileage out of.